Claudian's Corner

The power of love, the punishment of hate

Christmas, or whatever the politically correct term is now, is traditionally a time of families and love for your fellow man (and woman, of course). The Christmas message of peace and goodwill, though sometimes seemingly distant, is in fact always near and now is a timely reminder to us all to love even those who seem at odds with us.
There are many forms of love, and none more so than unconditional love that includes no desire and does not require reciprocation. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, now beatified, was a well-known exemplar of this as she gave her life to the poor. This total dedication is neither necessary nor feasible for many of us who have families and other commitments, yet we can give a little every day. 'Random acts of kindness' is a lovely term that describes the notion of helping a stranger, perhaps who you will never meet, say by topping up an overdue parking meter as you pass.
On the other side of the coin, it is a sad fact that many live their lives in anger and hate. They are easily slighted and take a malign pleasure in hurting other people. They often interpret what others do as deliberately attacking them (though the thought is often far from the imagined perpetrator's mind) as it gives them opportunity to vent from their bottomless pit. Anger makes them feel powerful, perhaps as a perpetuated echo of a child's rage at an inadequate parent or dominating bully. The sad fact is that when they rail at you, it is really their own internal hurt that they are trying to exorcise as they vainly project their bad objects at you.
When they meet in contention, love beats anger every time, partly because behind deep anger lies a tortured child who wants to be loved, whilst behind unconditional love is a person in harmony. Love releases tensions through forgiveness. Hate feeds on the tension of never forgiving. Love seeks to integrate whilst hate seeks to split. Love is its own reward, whilst hate is its own punishment.
Love is good for you. Those who love most are happiest, whilst those who hate most live in abysmal, dark sadness. So spare a smile and forgiveness this Christmas for those unhappy people who would hurt you most and hope that maybe you can heal them a little.